With uncertainty still surrounding the coronavirus and the slow vaccine distribution in the United States, several film studios are preparing to delay their films once again as theaters remain closed or at limited-capacity. 

Warner Brothers has already made the decision to delay the release of No Time to Die for the third time, moving it from its Easter release to an unspecified date this fall. After their previously anticipated breadwinner, Wonder Woman 1984, effectively flopped at the global box office late last year, Warner Brothers needs to be strategic about their next blockbuster release. 

Other studios are looking at delaying their films as well. Black Widow fans might as well be sighing another sigh of defeat. Following Warner Brothers’ announcement, Disney is expected to announce yet another delay for Marvel’s long-awaited Black Widow. An unnamed veteran studio executive even predicts that “everything substantive between now and Top Gun: Maverick in early July will move,” according to The Hollywood Reporter. Highly-anticipated blockbusters such as Godzilla vs. Kong, Ryan Reynolds’ Free Guy, and Universal’s Fast and Furious 9 are among many others that are currently set to release before July. 

Will we ever get to see these franchises in theaters again? That question remains up in the air as theater chains like AMC and Cinemark struggle to remain open with no big-name movies to bring customers in. The movies themselves will be released, but at the rate it’s going, they may only be released on streaming services. Cinema companies face an increasingly serious risk of going bankrupt in 2021, so streaming platforms might be the only way we get to see these films. Theaters desperately need a breath of life and fast. More and more studios are turning to VOD or streaming service releases. 

However, movie-goers should not abandon all hope yet, and neither should theater chains. There is a chance that multi-billion dollar corporations like Disney or Amazon step in and invest in cinemas, which could save them from going under. Vaccine production and distribution should be ramping up in the next couple of weeks as well. This will hopefully allow for theaters to be full of people once again and for the economic healing process to begin, for both the movie industry and for the whole world.